Manchester City were stunned by Bodø/Glimt in the Champions League and have struggled in recent games but the relatively new Champions League format still gives them plenty of hope
Manchester City’s defeat in the Arctic Circle should have been a result that froze European football in its tracks. It should have seismic ramifications, signalling the end of the English game’s Guardiola age.
A squad with a market value of under £50million beats a squad with a market value of well over £1billion. And this coming on the back of one of City’s worst Premier League performances in recent memory.
It is certainly not stretching matters to see City’s current run of form as a crisis. They have won only two of their past seven matches, one of those victories coming against Exeter City, a League One mid-table team.
But the cold facts suggest a relative struggle rather than a crisis. City have one foot in the Carabao Cup final, have a fourth round FA Cup tie against League Two opposition to look forward to and sit second in the Premier League table.
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And despite the loss to Bodø/Glimt, they are still very much in the Champions League. The lack of jeopardy in the first five months of this competition is truly mind-numbing, these two extra matches at the end of this month completely unnecessary additions to a packed football schedule.
In terms of European competition, it should be dry January, as it always was. Finish the group stages in early November and have three months off before sudden death stages. And then, there was a sense of anticipation about the knockout phase.
Now, the whole competition is a sprawling mess. These two post-Christmas rounds of fixtures have some edge for some teams, most notably the handful of sides below the 24th-place cut-line who might be able to squeeze into the play-off round after the final qualifying matches.
But, in truth, it is hardly edge-of-the-seat stuff. It is fall-asleep-in-the-seat stuff.
Ok, there is some danger of big teams – such as City – not making into the top eight and having to go to a two-legged knockout phase play-off but is that such a tough deal? Four of last season’s quarter-finalists did not finish in the top eight of qualifying and, of course, Paris St Germain came through the knockout phase to win the trophy.
In fact, PSG lost three of their eight qualifying matches in the 2024/25 competition. They lost three of their first five matches, so City are ahead of that schedule. And the luck of the draw becomes a factor.
Liverpool finished top of the qualification table last season and what was their reward in the round of 16? A meeting with PSG.
Aston Villa finished eighth in the qualification table and got Club Brugge in the round of 16. In other words, while a win against Galatasaray next Wednesday might bring a welcome spot in the top eight, having to play a two-legged knockout tie in February would be no disaster for City.
PSG beat Brest 10-0 on aggregate at that stage last season and it set them up for eventual triumph. Sure, it was a shocker for City in the Arctic Circle … but, thanks to this format, it is not the end of the world.
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